The game of softball is supposed to be fun, and Purdue senior catcher Danielle Fletcher makes sure her teammates get a constant reminder.

Those chants and cheers from the dugout that make fans feel welcome usually are started by the boisterous Fletcher.

"We need someone like her to lighten the mood all the time and not be so serious," senior Tori Chiodo said. "I feel like we play the best when we are just relaxed and having a good time together."

It's a natural role for the Moor Park, Calif., native.

Fletcher assumed it when she was young and she's had it ever since.

But Fletcher is more than just an energetic dugout presence. As a travel-ball teammate of Fletcher's when they were 13, Chiodo was instantly amazed at her power.

"She was the youngest girl I've ever seen hit the ball that hard," Chiodo recalls.

Fletcher also is a trustworthy target for the Boilermaker pitchers, a constantly improving hitter who has been a mainstay behind the plate for four seasons.

Her power is a nice perk for Purdue, but don't take her team-leading eight home runs to mean she is a one-dimensional hitter. Fletcher's hitting .350 this season, much improved from her .245 average of a year ago. She's driven in 32 runs, just one shy of a career high.

"What Fletch has done well this well is adjusted her game to not just be a one-swing power hitter, but also to know the situation and know what her job is at that point with how the other team is pitching her," first-year coach Kim Schuette said. "She is able to help the team in many ways at the plate, not just hitting the ball out of the park."

With Fletcher's leadership, Purdue has won each of its four Big Ten series heading into this weekend's three-game homestand against Illinois.

For a brief moment in last Saturday's 8-0 loss to Ohio State, the fun in the game drifted from Fletcher. She accepted responsibility for blaming the defeat on the errors of others. Schuette said Fletcher was one of the veterans afterwards who vowed to make the rubber game enjoyable, and the Boilermakers took the series with a 5-4 win on Sunday.

"After the game, we had a talk with our coach and said we are going to take responsibility for ourselves on the field," Fletcher said. "No one is trying to mess up. The next game, we enjoyed ourselves and remembered why we were there."

Fletcher has often reminded her teammates that softball is supposed to be fun.

Sometimes she needs a reminder herself. Purdue currently sits at third in the Big Ten with a 9-3 record.

She's hoping that setback at Ohio State, grouped with upsetting losses against Michigan State and Indiana, is all the reminder she needs to enjoy the final weeks of her career.

"The game is fun and if you play it uptight, you are going to have a hard time enjoying yourself," Fletcher said. "The more you have fun and are loose, the more you are going to win."